Peter DeBoer Can Improve NY Islanders in Area Patrick Roy Failed

Peter DeBoer has the tools to improve the New York Islanders in an area of weakness under Patrick Roy.

Apr 11, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders head coach Peter DeBoer speaks to the media before their game against the Ottawa Senators at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Alexander Wohl-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The New York Islanders didn’t make many big moves this offseason, but near the end of the 2025-26 regular season, a decision was made that will hopefully reshape the future of the franchise.

With four games remaining in the campaign, Patrick Roy was fired as head coach and replaced by Peter DeBoer. It isn’t a situation the veteran coach is unfamiliar with, as he was fired by the San Jose Sharks during the 2019-20 campaign and later on was hired by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Coaching those last four games did give DeBoer a head start on figuring out areas of improvement to help get the team back into the postseason. He spoke with Roy as well, picking his brain to learn as much as possible about the organization and area, not so much the roster.

Evaluations of the players would truly occur during the offseason, but there is one area in which DeBoer is best suited to help the team succeed compared to his predecessor: defensive structure.

Peter DeBoer needs to improve Islanders' defensive scheme

“The Islanders overachieved last year under Patrick Roy for most of the season,” said “Locked on Islanders” podcast host Gil Martin, with an H/T to Alex Wiederspiel of Heavy. “But defensive structure was lacking. The reason the Islanders were able to compete was because Ilya Sorokin stood on his head.”

DeBoer wasn’t going to be overly critical of a team that finished with 91 points, far exceeding any expectations that were placed on them coming into the season. However, he did identify the frequency of giving the puck away as an area that needed to be cleaned up.

That goes in line with the lack of structure Martin mentioned the team played with under Roy. The breakdowns weren’t exposed early on because of how dominant Ilya Sorokin was in goal. But when his performance teetered, the team’s ability to win cratered.

Sorokin recently spoke about wearing down later in the season. His performance wasn’t as sharp down the stretch as the team’s playoff hopes dwindled. He was asked to play a heavy workload, constantly starting in net as the Islanders grasped onto their playoff hopes.

Without him playing at an elite level, the team wasn’t winning games. Providing him with more help at the blueline defensively should be a top priority in the game plan that DeBoer develops for the team.

Sorokin is talented enough to cover up some defensive mistakes, as he proved with his second-place finish in the Vezina Trophy voting last season. Cutting down on the giveaways and tightening up their defensive structure will go a long way toward not only keeping their goalie fresh but also making a playoff push.